The Importance of Intuition and Trust in Personal and Business Success, Part II

Intuition and trust go hand in hand. You cannot exercise your intuition without also using trust and when you trust you often have to rely on your instinct or intuition. There are many situations that don't allow the time for other mechanisms for building trust to come into effect. Sometimes we have to make a snap decision relating to matters that can involve large sums or money or even our well being.

Legendary stock market investor, Warren Buffett and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, provides a great example of the value of trust in business success. Company mergers can be complex and drawn out affairs involving an army of lawyers, accountants and the like. It can sometimes take up to a year to finalise details. However, a few years ago Berkshire Hathaway bought McLane Distribution Company from Wal-Mart and following a 2-hour meeting managed to finalise the acquisition in just under a month. We're not talking about trifling sums here either; this was a $23 billion transaction.

Warren Buffett did no due diligence. Both companies were public and therefore their records could be scrutinised by the public. Warren Buffett said, "I trusted Wal-Mart, I trusted the people I worked with. I knew everything would be in exactly the order that they said it would be, and it was." He said, "We did no due diligence."

Can you see the advantages of being able to operate under such an umbrella of complete trust? As Indira Gandhi said,

"You can't shake hands with a clenched fist."

A word of caution - this deal may have been lightning fast but this relationship was gradually built up over time. Yet building trust is something we are all capable of and need to develop if we are to be successful in building any sort of relationships whether personal or business.

Here are five simple ways you can create trust in your relationships:

1. Be open, transparent and scrupulously honest in your business dealings;
2. Stick to your word - be known as someone who is completely reliable;
3. Under-promise and over deliver - people love to receive unexpected bonuses;
4. Refrain from gossiping about your colleagues or business partners, it is unprofessional and can seriously backfire; and
5. Take responsibility for your actions especially when things go wrong - similarly give credit where credit is due.

Trust and intuition are inexorably linked. To be able to tap into your intuition you have to learn how to trust yourself and as Cardinal de Retz said:

"A man who doesn't trust himself can never really trust anyone else."